As a board-certified neurosurgeon with advanced fellowship training in spine surgery, it’s not unusual for Dr. Ricky Kalra to be asked to weigh in on challenging surgical cases involving the spine. But one recent request garnered a little more attention than some!

Expert Opinion Headed to Hollywood

In August 2020, television personality Simon Cowell reportedly sustained a severe back injury after falling from an electric bike at his home in Malibu, CA. Afterward, the America’s Got Talent star underwent a five-hour surgery and subsequent hospital stay before going home to complete his recovery.

Hollywood-based celebrity news website Nicki Swift reached out to our very own Dr. Kalra, who is also on staff at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Plano. Reporter Amanda Byerly asked him to weigh in on Cowell’s injury, surgery and recovery, which has reportedly been challenging and is taking longer than originally projected.

Why would a surgery that seemingly went well be met with setbacks now? And what might be in store for Cowell as he works to regain his mobility? Those are the questions that were posed to Dr. Kalra, who spoke with Nicki Swift to offer insight into Cowell’s prognosis and recovery.

According to Dr. Kalra, Simon Cowell’s recovery may have taken a turn for the worse due to the severity of the surgery itself, but Dr. Kalra was also able to give Cowell fans hope.

Once the muscle damage from the injury and the insult from the surgery start subsiding, the recovery process speeds up. He will more than likely have a stiff back with some loss of flexibility. Otherwise, as long as he sustained no spinal cord injury, he should make a full recovery with no major long-term issues.

Read the full story here.

Most Back Pain Doesn’t Require Surgery

The entire KBS team wishes Simon all the best in his recovery!

But great news: In most cases, and apart from an acute injury (as was the case with Simon Cowell), you can find relief from your back pain without surgery. Things like ice, heat, spinal injections, physical therapy and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory (NSAIDs) medications can often help. Research shows that regular exercise also eases back pain and can keep it from recurring.

For some, however, these first-line treatments are not enough. If more conservative treatments have failed to bring enough relief and your pain is persistent and disabling, it may be time to see a surgeon, more specifically, a neurosurgeon.

When Back Surgery is Needed, Trust an Expert

A neurosurgeon for back pain? Absolutely.

Why? Dr. Ricky Kalra is a specialist in both the brain and the spine, so his expertise gives him a hard-to-beat understanding of how nerves interact with the rest of the body. At Kalra Brain & Spine, we believe in utilizing a wide range of treatment options from pain management and physical therapies to innovative minimally invasive procedures and surgeries that have helped many patients reclaim their lives.

Another important piece of information to know? Dr. Kalra sees second-opinion cases nearly every day. We believe this is proof of his commitment to the well-being of every one of his patients. His confidence in his diagnosis and recommended treatment plan means he’s always happy to work with the greater medical community to achieve the best outcomes for his patients.

At Kalra Brain & Spine, you’re in good hands. Dr. Kalra specializes in the most up-to-date evidence-based neurological care. He has helped countless people get out of pain and regain their lives. If you’ve experienced a back injury or have unexplained pain (even if you’ve seen other doctors and still have not found relief), we’d love to meet with you to see if we can help. Schedule an appointment today.

Dr. Kalra Earns D Magazine’s Best Neurosurgeon in Dallas for Fourth Year in a Row

D Magazine’s “Best Doctors” is Dallas’ number one resource for finding the highest-quality, most respected doctors in the area. We’re proud to announce that our own Dr. Ricky Kalra has made the prestigious list once again as a D Magazine Best Neurosurgeon in Dallas for 2020.

The Selection Process

D Magazine begins the review process by reaching out to thousands of local doctors to nominate their peers in different categories. The nominating doctors must all be located and practicing in the DFW area, so you know you can truly trust their nominations. Then, a rotating panel of esteemed doctors reviews the nominees and chooses only the most deserving candidates.

No one can pay to be on the list, and D Magazine has a detailed process to avoid abuse of the voting process. With all that effort, you can rest assured that everyone on the list offers fantastic care, all based on the opinions of the people who know medicine best – other doctors.

Proud to Be Recognized

Dr. Kalra is proud to have been recognized – especially by his peers – for inclusion in the Best Doctors in Dallas list in D Magazine in 2017, 2018, 2019, and now, in 2020. Combining his incredibly caring and hands-on patient care with the convenience of many minimally invasive treatment options has helped him stand out.

From my earliest days in practice, I have held the desire to provide world-class comprehensive care in a warm, compassionate environment. To have been recognized, year after year, for our ongoing commitment to our patients assures me we are headed in the right direction.

—Ricky Kalra, MD

Check out Dr. Kalra’s profile below.

 

Car Accident Reveals Lemon-Sized Tumor

When Julio Molina of Little Elm, Texas, was in a serious car accident in early 2020, he felt fortunate to walk away with minor injuries and just a few scratches on his face. But while in the emergency room, a routine CT scan to check for internal injuries found something quite alarming. A large tumor was growing on Julio’s spinal cord, threatening his mobility and quality of life.

The tumor was a Schwannoma tumor and it was slowly destroying Julio’s spine. Cancerous or not, if left untreated, it could lead to breathing and muscle problems, even paralysis of the face.

For more than two years, Molina unknowingly experienced one of those symptoms but thought he just had a pinched nerve in his back.

“Sometimes my neck and the back of my head would feel numb, and every couple of months, my hands would become numb,” said Julio. “I didn’t know it, but the tumor was putting pressure on my spinal cord.” Julio learned he would require surgery to have it removed and our own Dr. Ricky Kalra, who serves on the medical staff at Texas Health Presbyterian in Plano, was just the neurosurgeon for the job.

Surgery in the Days of COVID-19

In the middle of a world health pandemic, the 27-year-old expectant father was understandably nervous about having surgery in the days of COVID-19. He worried about contracting the virus and bringing it home to his girlfriend and unborn baby daughter. But the seriousness of his condition, the tingling and numbness caused by the growing tumor, and the impending loss of motor function meant surgery was his best chance of feeling completely healthy again.

Dr. Kalra performed Julio’s spine surgery, a procedure that took ten hours to complete, at Texas Health Presbyterian Plano. “The tumor was wrapped around his cervical spinal cord and the vertebral artery. It was pushing on the spinal cord and compressing the nerves that go down to your hands,” said Dr. Kalra.

To stop the tumor from corroding the vertebrae in Julio’s spine, Dr. Kalra performed a laminectomy, in which he removed the corroded vertebrae. He then performed a spinal fusion to permanently connect several vertebrae in Molina’s spine. The delicate surgery took weeks of planning.

Blessing in Disguise

Thankfully, Julio’s tumor was benign and his recovery is going well. Physical therapy is helping him to regain neck strength. He considers the accident a blessing in disguise and says he felt completely safe having surgery during the pandemic. “Knowing that the tumor is out, I can raise my daughter with the quality of life that I would like to have,” said Julio.

Julio’s story understandably attracted quite a bit of media attention. Watch Dr. Kalra interviewed in Julio’s story by clicking any of the links below.

Dr. Kalra loves to educate people on the importance of seeking a second opinion for their unresolved back and neck pain. He’s helped many individuals who thought invasive back surgery was their only viable option for relief. And he’s been able to offer up several less invasive, but no less impactful, treatments and therapies on many occasions.

At Kalra Brain & Spine, surgery is considered a last resort. Alternative treatments for chronic neck and back pain can include physical therapy, medication, injection treatments and minimally invasive procedures, including artificial cervical disc replacements.

Dr. Kalra’s position is that collaborative, multidisciplinary care often results in better outcomes. And better outcomes are what we live for at Kalra Brain & Spine! “A second medical opinion is often a critical part of ideal patient outcomes,” said Dr. Kalra. “And no matter how much you love your doctor, you should place the most trust in a doctor who encourages you to consider a second opinion.”

We see many individuals who are seeking second or even third opinions for their chronic pain due to radiculopathy, degenerative disc disease, scoliosis, herniated discs, spine tumors and spinal trauma, and Dr. Kalra has had great success in helping patients find the relief they need and deserve. Bring your questions because we encourage them!

At the very least, second opinions offer peace of mind. At best, they may offer a solution that may have not been previously considered.

At Kalra Brain & Spine, we are always happy to work with the greater medical community to find the best solution for each and every person who comes to us seeking help.

You can read the entire informative piece on second opinions (and why you should always seek them) that was featured recently in one of our favorite Collin County publications, Local Profile:

Have you seen Dr. Kalra’s feature story in The Dallas Morning News? It was indeed an honor to partner with this Dallas institution to bring relevant, educational and life-changing information about neck and back pain treatment to the people of Dallas/Fort Worth.

This heartwarming feature in The Dallas Morning News tells the story of how Dr. Kalra helped one young mom find lasting relief from her chronic and debilitating back pain so she could start living again!

From constant, stabbing back pain to an active, healthy life free from chronic pain; it’s possible! Just ask Kristina Furnas, who had tried everything to find relief, including pain management injections, followed by a laminectomy — a surgical procedure that opens space in the spinal canal to relieve nerve pressure and pain. Later as the pain began to creep back in, Furnas had a revision laminectomy, followed by ablations to decrease the pain signals traveling from her back to her brain. Still, the pain persisted. Her previous surgeon told her that her options moving forward were limited. He urged Kristina to seek out a second opinion.

And she couldn’t be happier that she did; that’s how she found renowned North Texas neurosurgeon Dr. Kalra. Together they explored a number of options and settled on a surgery that Dr. Kalra felt would offer Kristina the most long-term relief while maintaining mobility. From there, the pieces quickly fell into place.

Visit The Dallas Morning News site to read more about Kristina’s road to relief, how she’s “excited to be alive again” and Dr. Kalra’s unique approach to treating patients with with chronic neck and back pain due to radiculopathy, degenerative disc disease, scoliosis, herniated discs, spine tumors and spinal trauma:

Have you seen Dr. Kalra’s feature story in The Dallas Morning News? What an honor it was to partner with this longstanding Dallas institution to bring relevant, educational and life-changing information about neck and back pain treatment to the people of Dallas/Fort Worth.

Many people don’t know it, but chronic back and neck pain can often be resolved by seeing a neurosurgeon. Beyond a chiropractor, physical therapist or even an orthopedic doctor, an experienced neurosurgeon like Dr. Ricky Kalra has the education, training and the expertise to effectively treat chronic and debilitating back and neck pain. His in-depth knowledge of both the bone and nerve anatomy of the spine and how those nerves interact with the rest of the body make him uniquely qualified in this area.

Whenever possible, Dr. Kalra will prescribe the least invasive treatment plan available. He always advises anyone who has been told a major surgery is needed to seek a second opinion.

In some cases, you may learn that there are less invasive surgery options that hadn’t been considered. One option could be the Mobi-C artificial cervical disc replacement. Dr. Kalra was one of the first physicians trained in implanting this revolutionary device, and he has seen it help many patients regain their active lifestyles without struggling through lengthy recovery periods. In fact, one of his favorite patients’ stories is Jennifer’s – a busy mom of three and fitness enthusiast who finally found relief with Mobi-C.

In this article in The Dallas Morning News, Dr. Kalra speaks candidly about his unique approach to giving second (and even third) opinions to people who are dealing with chronic neck and back pain due to radiculopathy, degenerative disc disease, scoliosis, herniated discs, spine tumors and spinal trauma:

We sincerely love a good patient story and Jennifer’s is truly one of our favorites. From chronic, debilitating pain that was slowly and systematically robbing her of her active life to a life fully restored without the pain that had become her constant companion, this is one success story you’re going to want to read!

D Magazine recently featured Dr. Kalra’s patient Jennifer in this feel-good success story of how she, a fitness enthusiast and busy mom of three active boys, finally found real relief from her debilitating back pain and regained her active life!

Chronic neck and back pain is something many Americans live with. For some, it’s an irritation, but for others, like Jennifer, it can be a debilitating reality that negatively affects almost every aspect of life. If you can relate, we can help. Chronic pain isn’t something you have to just accept and live with. That’s no way to live!

Why a Neurosurgeon?

Many people are surprised to learn that a neurosurgeon may offer the solution they’ve been needing; someone like our own Dr. Ricky Kalra, founder of Kalra Brain & Spine. Neurosurgeons are specialists in both the brain and the spine. This unique combination of expertise gives Dr. Kalra a complex and comprehensive understanding of how nerves interact with the rest of the body.

Kalra Brain & Spine has helped so many people, just like Jennifer, identify and treat the source of their chronic pain. Sometimes, surgery does offer the best solution, but lasting pain relief often can be achieved through other, less invasive treatments. One thing you can know for sure, at Kalra Brain & Spine, surgery is considered a last resort. Alternative treatments can include physical therapy, medication, injection treatments and minimally invasive procedures, including artificial cervical disc replacements.

Dr. Kalra is well respected in the medical community and works collaboratively with many other specialists, offering patients a truly multidisciplinary approach to their care. He is a D Magazine “Best Doctor” for three years and counting! Read Jennifer’s complete story here:

Chronic neck and back pain is something many Americans live with on a daily basis. For some, it’s an irritation, but for others, it can be a debilitating reality that negatively affects their lives in ways both large and small.

If you fall anywhere on that spectrum, we’d like to help. Chronic pain isn’t something you should just live with. And, many people are surprised to learn that often, the most effective route to relief from chronic neck and back pain can be found with a neurosurgeon; someone like our own Dr. Ricky Kalra, who is a specialist in both the brain and the spine. This unique vantage point gives Dr. Kalra a complex and comprehensive understanding of how nerves interact with the rest of the body.

Kalra Brain & Spine has helped countless people identify and treat the source of their chronic pain. Sometimes, surgery offers the best solution, but lasting pain relief often can be found short of the surgical suite. In fact, at Kalra Brain & Spine, surgery is considered only when other methods have been tried first. 

Our commitment is to offer our patients the most conservative treatments that yield the greatest benefit. In other words, we want to get you out of pain and back to living your life as quickly as possible! Treatments can include physical therapy, medication, injection treatments and minimally invasive procedures, including artificial cervical disc replacements. 

Dr. Kalra is respected among his peers and works collaboratively with many other types of doctors, offering patients the benefit of a multidisciplinary approach to their care. He is a D Magazine “Best Doctor” for three years and counting! Read more about Dr. Kalra’s unique approach to addressing neck and back pain.

Living Magazine is another one of DFW’s best sources for local news. With individual magazines for all of the major areas around the metroplex, Local Profile knows all of DFW deeply. Dr. Kalra and his team were profiled in the October issue, and they highlighted some of Kalra Brain & Spine’s recent patient success stories. To learn about some of Dr. Kalra’s happiest patients, you can check the October issue of Frisco/Plano’s Living Magazine below.

And as always, Dr. Kalra is available to answer your questions and help you find relief from the most both the most mundane and complex back pain. Your spine deserves and expert opinion.